1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hollow-cored rolled sheet of paper holder/dispenser, specifically to such holder/dispenser which is used for holding rolls of toilet tissue paper, paper towel, and similar commodities to be manually dispensed by human.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Through the past decades considerable number of prior art in the field of dispensing toilet paper, towel paper, and similar commodities having cylindrical tube axially located at the center of said commodities have been advanced and been granted patent protection. Each one of said prior art devices presents different features and configuration or improvement over the previous ones. Obviously each of the thinkers behind those proposed improvements was cognizant of the need to provide a dispensing device that accomplishes mainly, among other things, two basic functions namely: (1) to store an ample supply of rolls of toilet paper in a designated component of said device to make them available and ready for the user upon demand, and (2) to position a roll of toilet paper in another component of said device in a manner in which a user can easily unroll a sheet of material from it. To perform the aforementioned two basic functions, most prior art devices commonly include two basic components, namely: (1) a storage component for holding an ample supply of rolls of toilet paper. Said component is named differently by different inventors. Some call it a tube, others name it a magazine, still others call it a hopper, some refer to it as a box, and a second component (2) a dispensing section of the device generally positioned below said first component and serves as a surge or queue chamber and provides a passageway for a roll of toilet paper when a member part of said component pushes or otherwise moves said roll of toilet paper to a dispensing position ready for dispension by a user. Said second component generally includes more movable mechanical parts than the first component for the simple reason that manual interface with the device through said second component is required to move a roll of toilet paper to the dispension position and this is accomplished by actuating the proper part(s) of said second component. Whereas said first component (the magazine) generally utilizes only the gravitational force to drop a roll of toilet paper from a stack within it down to the second component underneath. However, many of the proposed prior art devices that have successfullly employed the two-component-combination described above to accomplish the aforementioned two basic functions still continue to use a spindle which is manually inserted into the cardboard tube at the center of the toilet paper roll and then positioning it in a receptacle wherefrom a user can unroll a sheet of material when needed. Other prior art devices employ complex mechanical components such as linkages, arm-cam (ratchet) combination, etc. to display a roll of toilet paper in a dispension position for a user""s consumption. Such arrangements may not be cost effective to manufacture hampering the device""s competitive edge in the market. Moreover, inefficient space utilization results when a roll of toilet paper is brought forward to the dispension position by an arm-cam mechanism as in Shpigelman""s U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,968 which puts a roll of toilet paper more than two paper roll diameters outward from a bathroom wall. Aesthetic aspects also suffer with bulky artless mechanical design exhibited by some prior art devices which were designed with solely functionality in mind without consideration to fine taste of art. Other proposed prior art devices have dispensing mechanism design which limits the number of rolls of toilet paper that can be stored in the hopper or magazine. An example of this capacity-limiting design is Davis""s U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,127 which has a two-step diameter shaft that is used to manually push to the dispensing position a roll of toilet paper sitting beneath and bearing the weight of the two other rolls of toilet paper above it in the magazine. The friction between the roll of toilet paper being pushed and the one immediately above it increases with the number of rolls of toilet paper that are stacked in the magazine to a point where the frictional force is so great that it will be extremely difficult if not impossible to push the roll of toilet paper at the bottom without causing some damage to the device. It is therefore the intent of this present invention to address and advance solutions to the above cited deficiencies and shortcomings of some prior art devices. The ensuing objects and advantages as well as the summary of the invention describe the unique features of this invention that distinctly distinguish it from the prior art devices.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my invention combination storage/dispenser for hollow-cored rolled sheet of material such as toilet tissue paper, paper towel, and the like, are as follows:
a) to provide a combination storage/dispenser for toilet tissue paper and other similar hollow-cored roll of paper that is capable of storing an ample supply of said material thus saving cabinet space in a bathroom.
b) to provide a toilet tissue paper roll holder/dispenser that virtually automatically replenishes a used up roll of toilet tissue paper and at the same time disposes its emptied core which falls by gravity into a trash can underneath the device.
c) to provide a toilet tissue paper roll holder/dispenser that automatically performs three events at the same time such as replacing a used up tissue paper roll, disposing the emptied core of said spent toilet tissue paper, and catching a new roll of tissue paper from a hopper for the next replacement when the one in use runs out. Such events are simultaneously accomplished with just one turning of a rotatable carrier of rolls of toilet paper through a specified angle.
d) to provide a toilet tissue paper roll holder/dispenser that saves time and effort that would otherwise be spent in replenishing a used up roll of toilet tissue paper.
e) to provide a toilet tissue paper roll holder/dispenser that projects an image of technical advancement and modernization in bathroom furnishings.
f) to provide a toilet tissue paper roll holder/dispenser that makes replacing a used up roll of toilet tissue paper fun to do and even something to look forward to.
g) to provide a toilet tissue paper roll holder/dispenser that renders a neat and tidy appearance and orderliness in a bathroom.
Further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing drawings and description.